Gallery: 2013 Top 10 Small Chains and Independents

1. Fareway Stores

Fareway Foods, Boone, Iowa, sits atop this year’s list. Fareway operates 102 stores — including two that opened last year — with most in Iowa and a smattering of locations in Minnesota and Nebraska. It plans to expand into South Dakota this year.

No. 3 Bodega Latina

With last year’s No. 3, Fareway, moving up, Bodega Latina, the Mexican-owned retailer that operates in Southern California under the El Super banner, moved up to No. 3 this year from No. 6 a year ago on the strength of acquiring eight high-volume stores from K.V. Mart, Carson, Calif. It operates 45 stores.

Sales gains by several top independents resulted in major changes to SN’s list of the Top 50 Small Chains and Independents this year, with three of last year’s top four companies finding their way to the higher-volume Top 75 list of the largest food retailers and wholesalers in the U.S. and Canada.

Many of the changes to the Top 50 list during its first four years have been the result of mergers and acquisitions, including growth by Bodega Latina, which appeared as the El Super chain as No. 10 on the inaugural list in 2010 with 21 stores and moved up to No. 3 on this year's list.

Click through the gallery to see the Top 10 small chains and independents, and look to the upper right for captions.